Employed Bar Awards 2018
Government Legal Department (GLD) lawyers win prestigious accolades at the Bar Council Employed Bar Awards.
Aoife Drudy and Katherine Willerton pose with their awards.
Two GLD lawyers have won prestigious accolades at the Bar Council Employed Bar Awards. The winners were announced at a ceremony held at the Imperial War Museum in London, on Friday 29 June.
Top award
Katherine Willerton from the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) Legal Advisers team was named ‘Employed barrister of the year’ for her work on the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill. Katherine is the deputy team leader in the Legislation team of 12 lawyers who worked with ministers and officials to produce the Bill and get it through Parliament. The nomination referred to her drive and resilience as well as her ‘superb legal analysis and advice’. She was recognised for her substantial contribution to the rewriting of the UK constitution, in circumstances of political controversy and sensitivity.
Outstanding achievement
Aoife Drudy who works in the Home Office Legal Advisers (HOLA) team has won the award for ‘Outstanding achievement by a public service barrister’. She has been the lead lawyer advising the Northern Ireland Office on the EU Exit negotiations and led on technical discussions with the EU Commission and Irish Government The nomination said her legal skills and practical advice have been widely admired across government, making her an essential component of the UK’s negotiating team.
Further finalist
A third GLD lawyer, Jonathan Orde, was one of the finalists in the ‘Young employed barrister of the year’ category. The nomination, sent in on his behalf, speaks of his contribution to increasing advocacy opportunities in GLD and the fact that as a direct result of the success he had in court as a pupil, all GLD pupils undertake advocacy during their second 6 secondment to Chambers.
High standard
Treasury Solicitor, Jonathan Jones was on the judging panel and said he was highly impressed by the standard of the entries in this, only the second year of the Employed Bar Awards:
Congratulations to the GLD winners, Katherine and Aoife, for their outstanding success in winning their categories and to Jonathan for being short-listed in his category.
As a member of the judging panel I was, of course, scrupulously neutral (I played no part in the shortlisting) and found the standard of entries to be high right across the employed bar. I am particularly proud of all our GLD finalists, who exemplify the brilliant work we do in GLD.
The full list of those shortlisted and all category winners can be found on the Bar Council website.